Refrigerator



Mal-c117, 1939.

D. W. SUTHERLAND REFRIGERATOR Original Filed Feb. 5, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

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March 7, 1939. 11 w SUTHERLAND I 2,149,821

INVENTOR.

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Patented Mar. 7, 1939 PATENT OFFICE 2,149,821 REFRIGERATOR Donald w. Sutherland, Sioux Falls, s.-

signor to Serve], Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application February 5, 1935, Serial No. 5,057

. Renewed January 5, 1938 My invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly to a rack or holder for use in a refrigerator cabinet.

It is an object of my invention to provide a rack or holder in which individual articles, such as. eggs, automatically gravitate in sequence to a convenient point of removal as, for instance,

just within a refrigerator door opening.

Another object is to provide a rack or holder that may be removably suspended closely beneath a refrigerator shelf to increase storage capacity by utilizing the most likely available space of a loaded refrigerator.

A further object is to provide a rack or holder on which an article may be conveniently grasped for removaL My invention will be understood upon reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings of which:

Fig. 1 is a front view partly broken away of the upper part of a household refrigerator provided with a rack embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the forward end of the rack;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the rack;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 0-4 in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a top view of the rack.

Referring to Fig. 1, a.refrigerator I0 provides a thermally insulated storage compartment II in which is located a cooling element I2 of a suitable refrigeration apparatus. In the storage compartment II is a plurality of openwork shelves, usually constructed of bars or wire rods as shown. Beneath a shelf I3 is suspended a rack or holder 14 adapted to hold a series of generally similar articles and more particularly a series of generally spheroidal articles such as eggs. I prefer to suspend the rack I4 closely beneath the shelf I 3 for the reason that space immediately beneath a shelf is the most likely available space even in a fully loaded refrigerator. I also prefer to removably suspend the rack l4 so that its position in the refrigerator may be changed to take ad-' vantage of the space that is least likely to be occupied or most likely to meet the desire of a user.

/ The structure of the rack I4 is more clearly members I5 and I6 are flat and serve to support two pairs of parallel wire rods I9 and 20. The U-shaped suspension members I5 and I6 are arranged with "their upper ends at .the same level and fire spaced apart so as to be adjacent opposite ends of the parallel wire rods I9 and 20. Since the members I 5 and I6 are of different depths, the tracks formed by the wire rods I9 and 20 are inclined from the suspension member I5 downwardly in the direction of 'the suspension member I5. The upper ends of the wire rods l9 are turned upwardly to form stops 23 and the lower ends are turned upwardly'to form stops 2|. The upper and lower ends of the wire rods 20 are likewise turned upwardly to form stops 24 and 22. A side rail 26 extends around the tracks I9 and 20 except at the forward end of the rack. The retaining'ledge at the forward end of the rack is formed by the stops 2! and 22. A. center spacing bar'25 affords fllrther rigidly to the rack intermediate the suspension members I5 and IS. The tracks I9 and 20, spacing bar 25', side rail 26, and the suspension members I5 and It may allbe of tinned metal wires welded to-' gether as described.

The rack It may be suspended from the shelf I3, as shown, by engaging the hooks I1 and I8, at the upper ends of the-suspension members I5 and I6, over shelf bars or rods I3a and Mb. The rack M is preferably suspended with the front, that is, the lower end of the inclined tracks I9 and 20 adjacent the forward edge of the shelf I3 which may be Just within the opening of the refrigerator door and in the forward part of the refrigerator storage compartment II. The inclined tracks 2| and 22 are arranged as, for instance, by proper spacing of the wire rods to support a series of articles, especially articles which are generally spheroidal such as eggs. Eggs are prolate spheroids and are therefore placed on the tracks [9 and 20 with their longer axes across the track as indicated in Fig; 2 so that the eggs tend to roll downwardly in sequence against the retaining ledge or stops 2| and 22. It will now be understood that an egg resting against one of the stops 2| or 22 may be grasped at the top and bottom between fingers extending into the refrigerator storage compartment II and substan- .tially horizontally between the stops 2| or 22 and Eggs may be placed in the rack or holder I at the forward end of the rack by placing eggs one at a time on the lower end of the track I9 or 20,

stops 2| or 22 to make room for the egg being added. When an egg is removed from the lower end of a track l9 or 20, any egg or series of eggs on the track above the egg being removed will gravitate downwardly until restrained by the stops 2| or 22. Thus, as eggs are removed from the lower or front end of the rack, the remainder gravitate in sequence to the point of removal, wherefore an egg is always readily available at a known and convenient point for removal from the refrigerator.

It will be understood that various changes may be made within the scope of my invention which is therefore not limited to that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the following claims:

What is claimed is:

1. In a refrigerator having a storage compartment and a shelf in said compartment, a rack for supporting eggs and analogous rollable objects including a pair of substantially U-shaped suspension members, a track formed by a pair of parallel wire rods which rest upon and are secured to said members and which have unconnected up-turned ends at the front of the rack constituting stops, said suspension members being of such relative depths as to support the track at an inclination from the rear toward the front of the compartment when said members are secured to and beneath said shelf.

2. An egg rack for use in refrigerator compartments consisting of a plurality of bars shaped to provide a basket like structure with the bottom thereof having a track or rlmway formed by a pair of substantially parallel bars spaced to support eggs in a row, suspension members engaging beneath and secured to the track rods and adapted to suspend the rack from a refrigerator shelf with said track bars inclined toward the front of the rack so that eggs will gravitate forward as those in front are removed, and a stop adjacent to the front or lower end of the track.

3. A container for a refrigerator compartment, including a track for supporting eggs or like rollable objects in a row thereon, suspension members on said container for engagement with a shelf for supporting said container closely beneath said shelf with said track inclined toward the front of the compartment so that the eggs will gravitate forward as those in front are removed, and a stop adjacent the front or lower end of the track.

, 4. A container, for use in a refrigerator having a member therein with a substantially flat underside, said container having upstanding sides and a bottom for retaining eggs within the same, said container including laterally spaced members constituting a track for supporting and causing eggs to align themselves in a row thereon, means for supporting said track inclined toward the front of the refrigerator so that the eggs will gravitate down the track as removal is made from the lower end of the track, stop means on the lower end of the track, said container being supported in said compartment beneath the fiat underside of said member so that a top will thereby be provided for the container capable of protecting eggs in the container during insertion of articles into and removal of articles from the refrigerator.

DONALD W. SUTHERLAND. 

